Chapter 3: Expanding Scene 1- A Gentleman's Club.

  As time went on, the little bar owned by a certain fiery redhead grew to be a popular place. People would come in almost nightly, and they even found a good dealer, bringing in proper alcohol instead of having to cut it with embalming fluid.  They were flourishing.
They needed to expand. One night, after closing, the Giant got his boss’s attention. ”Boss, can I talk to you?”

  Looking up from what she was doing, the woman in question responded. “Go ahead, Some. What can I do for you?”

  The blond was wearing his usual bartending outfit, slacks, a dress shirt, a dark green vest with leaf patterns embroidered on it, and his omnipresent sunglasses and fedora.  ”We’re getting a bit full, as of late,” he began, “I think it might be time we thought about getting a second bar.”

  The red-head nodded,glancing around her beloved bar. “Very true. That might be a good idea.” Smiling up at her most trusted and useful helper. “Can I count on you to go and scout out possible locations for yourself?”

  Pondering this for a moment, Some finally responded.  ”I can think of a few places for rent and a few for sale off the top of my head.  I’m sure, given a little time, I can find a good place to set up shop.”

  Her smile brightened some as she heard this. “Of course…~ Thank you, dear. When you do, let me know and I’ll have a surprise for you.”

  “…A surprise?  For some reason, this fills me with dread.  I don’t like surprises, Boss.”

  Giggling, Rami stepped lightly from her place behind the bar and walked around it, moving ever closer to the giant. She looked up with a kinder smile than usual, though there was still the mad glint that never quite left her eyes. “Oh come now…! Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?”

  Giving his boss a look, Some merely shook his head.  ”The fact that you feel the need to ask that question says so much.”

  “Well!” She began, her voice an attempt at an affronted pout. “You sound as if you do not trust your boss…! I have to make sure that you do, if fact, trust that I can handle things properly.” Folding her arms, she looked the Git over, her eyes betraying her inner glee. Banter like this was commonplace among the 5uits, and as such, she felt no need to further hide her inner feelings.

  For once, the man’s expression changed.  One eyebrow raised itself high above the sunglasses he was wearing, revealing itself in all of its inquisitive glory.  ”Okay, you’re happy.  Now I know something is up.”

  This only made her close her emerald hues and shake her head, her smile fading somewhat. “It’s not that unusual, is it?”

  “Generally, you’re happy the way a cat is when it lets a mouse get away only to catch it again.  Now, you look downright manic, or at least your eyes do.  Has the Fox gotten to you, or something?”

 This made her snicker slightly. “While I will admit, Grin’s insanity is infectious, I assure you that is not the case at the moment.” Already, thoughts were whirling through her mind. Smiling wider, she settled to a choice that for now, she kept hidden. “Well… Is there anything else I can help you with, love?”

  “Do try and stop being so demented by the time I get back, eh Boss?”

  Laughing, she nodded. “Yes, yes, dear. Though if Grin decides to make an appearance, I make no promises.”

  “Oh Gods, it’s laughing.  I’d best flee before it decides to sick the runt on me.”  With that, Some left the room, ducking out the door before a thrown object hit him.

  Putting a hand over her mouth, Rami tried her very best to control her fit of giggles. “Now Desper, that wasn’t necessary….”

  Leaning against the bar with his hat over his eyes, Desper simply chuffed at her, resolute in his annoyance.

  Sighing, a smile still on her face, she walked past the boy, casually flicking his hat off his head to land neatly on it’s top behind him on the bar. “I still don’t see why you’re so upset by it. It’s not really that big of a deal, is it?”

  Letting out a noise somewhere between a growl and a squeak, the spitfire quickly retrieved his hat and formed a reply. “Fucker called me a runt.  I’m not that fucking short!”

  This caused the woman to shake her head. “To be fair, dear… You kind of are. You’re shorter than I am.”

  At this, he managed an actual growl, before letting loose a string of vulgarities so vile, most patrons still present and still conscious enough to hear them began blushing severely.

  Causing the red-head to walk over and give the boy a sharp smack to the back of the head. “We are still in public, dear. Keep it down if you must speak it at all.”

  Taking the blow with a slight yelp, Desper’s eyes flickered for a moment.  For but an instant, there was something aside from his usual cold glare at everything around him.  For just that one instant, there was a look like a terrified child, too used to being beaten.  But he regained his composure quickly, and immediately began cursing even more creatively at his employer.

  This made Rami stop for a moment. She recognized that look. Se had seen it far to often. “Desper. Stop it.” Her voice was low, her command there, but laced with regret. If there was one thing she never wanted to do, it was scare the people she had to rely on. She didn’t want to see that look on his face again.

  “Why the fuck should I, old hag?”

  “Because I’m asking you to.” Her hands were loose at her sides. That one instance burned into her retinas was enough to stop her from saying anything farther and possibly hurting him worse.

  Crossing his arms and looking away, Desper began grumbling incoherently to himself.  To all in the room, it seemed as if he had simply decided to comply with her, but there was still something in the back of his mind, hidden in his expression.  Fear.

  Placing a hand on his shoulder, her face looked slightly pained (though she did her best to hide it) as he flinched away on reflex. Pulling him close to her, her arms went around him and whispered one word into his ear before releasing him and walking away. “Sorry.” Almost jumping when her arms went around him, the raven stayed at the bar for a while before heading up to his room. Looking on from her place in the shadows, the young woman sighed and walked away after making sure the other wouldn’t see her.

  About a week later, the blond returned to his Boss’s office with a stack of papers.  The only thing he had to say about it was, “At least we have options.”

  Rami chuckled slightly and nodded. “Quite. Any suggestions before I take a look? One that you would prefer, perhaps?”

  “They are sorted based on how affordable they are.  My preferences are marked with a club.  Anything else, Boss?  Maybe that surprise you mentioned, but I shudder at the thought of what it could be.”

  Rami flipped through the pages for a moment before spotting one that struck her fancy. As an added bonus, there was a small club penned in on the top right-hand corner of the page. “Yes… There is.” pulling it out, she looked a bit more closely. “The surprise was giving you free reign of the new establishment.” Knowing full well he wasn’t going to be elated, it nonetheless stated quite a lot about how much trust she had in the man. Letting him have his own part of the enterprise was something she would never do if he was simply Some Git who worked for her.

  Nodding, he took the paper and looked over it, before handing it back.  ”It’ll do.”
She withheld a small sigh and nodded. “Alright. I leave it to you to make it into a fitting bar.”

  With that said and done, Some turned to the door, pausing only to give a small nod, which the red-head returned with a gracious smile and a “Careful out there.” Once the other was out of sight, she let out the sigh she had held back and laid her head on the desk in front of her, making her arms into makeshift pillows. She severely hoped nobody would walk in to see her until much later, as she wouldn’t be able to carefully measure her answers. Even she was having a hard time believing what she had just done.